Ice maker

ABSTRACT

There is provided an ice maker reliably performing a reliable ice separating operation. The ice maker includes: an evaporator; an ice making plate disposed vertically and making contact with the evaporator at a rear side thereof, the ice maker including a plurality of ice forming parts formed by dividing a front side thereof, surfaces of the ice forming parts being sloped to face downwards; a water tub disposed below the ice making plate to collect water falling from the ice making plate; and an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the ice making plate. 
     Since the ice making plate has a sloped structure, ice may be reliably separated from the ice making plate, and the quality of ice may be improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0106019 filed on Apr. 09, 2013, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an ice maker, and more particularly, to an ice maker reliably performing a definitive ice separating operation.

In a down-flow type ice maker, water freezes into ice while flowing down an ice making plate cooled by an evaporator, and the ice is separated from the ice making plate and stored in an ice bin.

FIG. 1 is perspective view illustrating an assembly included in an ice maker of the prior art, the assembly including an ice making plate 20 and an evaporator 10, and FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating how ice is formed on the ice making plate 20 of the ice maker of the prior art.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the ice maker of the prior art includes: the ice making plate 20 disposed vertically; and the evaporator 10 making contact with rear surfaces of the ice making plate 20.

The ice making plate 20 includes: a plurality of partitioning plates 22 dividing the ice making plate 20 in a width direction thereof so that a plurality of ice cubes can be formed on the ice making plate 20 in the width direction thereof; ice separating protrusions 24 for separating ice cubes from the ice making plate 20 during an ice separating operation.

In the prior art, however, surfaces of the ice making plate 20 on which ice cubes are formed are vertical. Therefore, during an ice separating operation, ice cubes may not be easily separated from the ice making plate 20 but may stick to the ice making plate 20.

Therefore, in the prior art, a lager amount of hot gas may be used to separate ice cubes sticking to the ice making plate 20, and thus the ice cubes may melt to lower the amount and quality of ice.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure may provide an ice maker in which ice is definitively separated from an ice making plate during an ice separating operation.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an ice maker may include: an evaporator; an ice making plate disposed vertically and making contact with the evaporator at a rear side thereof, the ice maker including a plurality of ice forming parts formed by dividing a front side thereof, surfaces of the ice forming parts being sloped to face downwards; a water tub disposed below the ice making plate to collect water falling from the ice making plate; and an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the ice making plate.

Each of the ice forming parts may include: an upper end protruding forward from the ice making plate; and a slope downwardly inclined toward the rear side of the ice making plate.

Jaws protruding forward from the ice making plate may be formed on lower ends of the ice forming parts.

Each of the jaws may extend from the lower end of an upper ice making part to the upper end of a lower ice making part located just below the upper ice making part.

The ice forming parts and the jaws may be formed in one piece by bending the ice making plate.

The jaws may be downwardly sloped.

The ice making plate may further include a plurality of partitioning barriers dividing each of the ice forming parts arranged in a width direction of the ice making plate.

The partitioning barriers may be formed by bending portions of the ice making plate to protrude forward.

The evaporator may include a pipe in which a refrigerant flows, the pipe making contact with rear sides of the ice forming parts and being sloped at both sides thereof according to sloped shapes of the ice forming parts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is perspective view illustrating an assembly included in an ice maker of the prior art, the assembly including an ice making plate and an evaporator;

FIG. 2 is aside cross-sectional view illustrating how ice is formed on the ice making plate of the ice maker depicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an assembly included in an ice maker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the assembly including an evaporator, an ice making plate, a water tub, an ice bin, and a guide member;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the ice making plate of the ice maker depicted in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is aside cross-sectional view illustrating how ice is separated from the ice making plate of the ice maker depicted in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating ice formed on the ice making plate of the ice maker depicted in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The disclosure may, however, be exemplified in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the specific embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings, the shapes and dimensions of elements may be exaggerated for clarity, and the same reference numerals will be used throughout to designate the same or like elements.

In the following description, the technical terms are used only for explaining specific exemplary embodiments while not limiting the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The terms of a singular form may include plural forms unless referred to the contrary.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, an ice maker 100 will hereinafter be described according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an assembly included in the ice maker 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the assembly including an evaporator 110, an ice making plate 200, a water tub 120, an ice bin 130, and a guide member 140, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the ice making plate 200. FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating how ice is separated from the ice making plate 200, and FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating ice formed on the ice making plate 200.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice maker 100 may include the evaporator 110, the water tub 120, the ice bin 130, the guide member 140, and the ice making plate 200.

The evaporator 110 may include a pipe in which a refrigerant flows. The pipe may have a zigzag manner with a plurality of bent portions.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the evaporator 110 may make contact with rear sides of the ice making plate 200 (to be described later in detail), and as the refrigerant flowing in the evaporator 110 evaporates by taking heat from the surroundings, the ice making plate 200 may be cooled.

The water tub 120 may be disposed below the ice making plate 200 to collect water (ice-making water and ice-separating water) falling from the ice making plate 200.

The ice bin 130 may form an ice storage space around the water tub 120 to collect ice (I) falling from the ice making plate 200.

The guide member 140 may separate ice (I) and water falling from the ice making plate 200 to guide the ice (I) to the ice bin 130 and the water to the water tub 120 through holes.

The ice making plate 200 is a plate-shaped member disposed vertically and making contact with the evaporator 110 at rear surfaces thereof. The ice making plate 200 is cooled by the evaporator 110 to form ice (I) thereon.

The ice making plate 200 includes a plurality of ice forming parts 210 formed by dividing front surfaces thereof. That is, the front surfaces of the ice making plate 200 may be divided into the ice forming parts 210 arranged in the form of a grating.

Each of the ice forming parts 210 is a region in which a single piece of ice (I) is formed.

Surfaces of the ice forming parts 210 may be sloped so that the surfaces may face downwards.

In the embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 5, upper ends of the ice forming parts 210 may protrude forward, and the surfaces of the ice forming parts 210 may be sloped rearward as it goes downwards.

That is, the surfaces of the ice forming parts 210 may not be vertical. Instead, the surfaces of the ice forming parts 210 may be sloped rearward in a downward direction.

As shown in FIG. 5, both sides of the evaporator 110 maybe shaped according to the sloped surfaces of the ice forming parts 210.

In this case, the contact area between the evaporator 110 and the ice forming parts 210 may be increased.

That is, the efficiency of heat exchange between the evaporator 110 and the ice forming parts 210 may be increased.

Furthermore, in the embodiments, jaws 220 protruding forward from the ice making plate 200 may be formed on lower ends of the ice forming parts 210.

In the embodiments, each of the jaws 220 maybe formed on a lower end of an ice forming part 210 and may extend to an upper end of a lower ice forming part 210 neighboring the ice forming part 210.

In other words, the ice forming parts 210 and the jaws 220 may be alternately formed in a vertical direction of the ice making plate 200.

Therefore, because of the ice forming parts 210 and the jaws 220, the front surfaces of the ice making plate 200 may be shaped like stairs.

If the jaws 220 are not sloped but horizontally protrude, water falling on the front surfaces of the ice making plate 200 may be separated from the front surfaces of the ice making plate 200 at the jaws 220.

In this case, water may not flow to the ice forming parts 210 located below the jaws 220, and thus the efficiency of ice making may be lowered. Furthermore, water separated from the ice making plate 200 may permeate the ice bin 130 and melt ice stored in the ice bin 130.

The prevent such an occurrence, the jaws 220 may be downwardly sloped. That is, the jaws 220 may not protrude horizontally but may be downwardly sloped.

In the embodiments, the ice forming parts 210 and the jaws 220 may be formed in one piece with the ice making plate 200 by bending the front surfaces of the ice making plate 200.

For example, when the ice making plate 200 is manufactured, portions bent a plurality of times in a zigzag manner may be formed on the ice making plate 200 as the ice forming parts 210 and the jaws 220.

Partitioning barriers 230 may divide the ice forming parts 210 arranged in a width direction of the ice making plate 200.

The partitioning barriers 230 may be plates extending in a height direction of the ice making plate 200 and arranged at regular intervals in the width direction of the ice making plate 200.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the partitioning barriers 230 may be formed by bending portions of the ice making plate 200 to protrude forward. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. For example, separate plates may be coupled to the ice making plate 200 to form the partitioning barriers 230.

Hereinafter, an ice separating operation of the ice maker 100 will now be described according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 5, during an ice separating operation, ice cubes (I) formed on the ice forming parts 210 of the ice making plate 200 may be melted at surfaces making contact with the ice forming parts 210, and thus may be separated from the ice making plate 200.

During the ice separating operation, the ice cubes (I) may be pulled downwards by gravity. In detail, the ice cubes (I) may receive force in directions away from the ice forming parts 210 because the ice forming parts 210 are downwardly sloped.

At the same time, owing to the jaws 220 located on the lower ends of the ice cubes (I), the upper ends of the ice cubes (I) may tend to rotate downwards.

As a result, during the ice separating operation, the gravitational force and rotational force may be applied to the ice cubes (I), and thus the upper ends of the ice cubes (I) may be easily separated from the ice forming parts 210. Then, air may permeate through gaps between the ice cubes (I) and the ice forming parts 210 to facilitate separation of the ice cubes (I) from the ice forming parts 210.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the upper ends of the ice forming parts 210 may be aligned with the upper ends of fully-formed ice cubes (I).

In this case, during an ice separation operation, air may easily permeate through gaps between the upper ends of the ice cubes (I) and the upper ends of the ice forming parts 210 to facilitate separation of the ice cubes (I).

For example, if hot gas is used in an ice separating operation, gaps may be rapidly formed between the upper ends of ice cubes (I) and the upper ends of the ice forming parts 210, and air may permeate through the gaps. Therefore, the upper ends of the ice cubes (I) and the rest parts of the ice cubes (I) may be easily separated from the ice forming parts 210.

In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the ice making plate 200 of the ice maker 100 has a downwardly sloped structure so that ice can receive force in directions away from the ice making plate 200. Therefore, ice may be reliably separated.

As set forth above, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, since the ice making plate has a sloped structure, ice may be reliably separated from the ice making plate, and the quality of ice may be improved.

While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An ice maker comprising: an evaporator; an ice making plate disposed vertically and making contact with the evaporator at a rear side thereof, the ice maker comprising a plurality of ice forming parts formed by dividing a front side thereof, surfaces of the ice forming parts being sloped to face downwards; a water tub disposed below the ice making plate to collect water falling from the ice making plate; and an ice bin forming an ice storage space around the water tub to collect ice falling from the ice making plate.
 2. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein each of the ice forming parts comprises: an upper end protruding forward from the ice making plate; and a slope downwardly inclined toward the rear side of the ice making plate.
 3. The ice maker of claim 2, wherein jaws protruding forward from the ice making plate are formed on lower ends of the ice forming parts.
 4. The ice maker of claim 3, wherein each of the jaws extends from the lower end of an upper ice making part to the upper end of a lower ice making part located just below the upper ice making part.
 5. The ice maker of claim 4, wherein the ice forming parts and the jaws are formed in one piece by bending the ice making plate.
 6. The ice maker of claim 3, wherein the jaws are downwardly sloped.
 7. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the ice making plate further comprises a plurality of partitioning barriers dividing each of the ice forming parts arranged in a width direction of the ice making plate.
 8. The ice maker of claim 7, wherein the partitioning barriers are formed by bending portions of the ice making plate to protrude forward.
 9. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein the evaporator comprises a pipe in which a refrigerant flows, the pipe making contact with rear sides of the ice forming parts and being sloped at both sides thereof according to sloped shapes of the ice forming parts. 